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F5: An Initial Launch Member of Microsoft’s Intelligent Security Association

Tom Atkins

Published May 22, 2018

The security of applications, data, and networking infrastructure is now more critical than ever, given the continued evolution of cyberattack vectors and the frequency at which they occur. It is predicted that by 2021 cyber-crime will cost organizations across the world $6 trillion annually – a 100% increase from the $3 trillion observed in 2015. To help combat this, Microsoft recently announced the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association to help security technology providers work more seamlessly with their security offerings to the benefit of our mutual customers.

The Microsoft Intelligent Security Association comprises a select group of premium security vendors who each contribute to and benefit from various Microsoft security products in order to improve the protection and usability of their products for customers. And it is for F5’s continued integration with, and support of, the Microsoft Azure Security Center that it was announced as an initial launch member of this new association.

For almost 2 years now, F5’s industry leading Web Application Firewall (WAF) has supported the Azure Security Center, providing advanced layer 7 protection for countless Azure-hosted applications. In addition to the mitigation of malicious threats such as L7 DoS, botnets, and various complex attack signatures by F5’s WAF, its deep integration with Azure Security Center only augments its value to users. With a simplified deployment and configuration process thanks to pre-configured security policies (designed by F5 security experts), advanced app protection can be employed quickly and with very little administrative effort. Not only that, but once up and running, the continual relaying of real-time reports and analytics back to Azure Security Center improves the holistic security view of a user’s Azure deployments.

Until recently, F5’s WAF for Azure Security Center was available purely as a BYOL (Bring-Your-Own-License) deployment, supporting subscription, ELA and perpetual BIG-IP Virtual Edition licenses. Now however, both BYOL and PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) options are available, exemplifying F5’s commitment to licensing its solutions in a cloud-friendly, cloud-native manner.

For more information about the F5 WAF for Azure Security Center, take a look at this solution overview, this blog, or visit the Azure Marketplace product listing directly.